Hidden in Plain Sight
by hailey-shiro
Summary: He knew it. From the moment the new student entered the class that day, Kurosaki Ichigo knew that there was something not right. Now he just needed to figure out what it was...
1. New Girl

**A/N****= Hi, it's hailey-shiro! This is another story I decided to start, because the idea just popped into my head and it's too good to just leave as an idea. The main characters will be *drumroll* our favourite midget Toushiro and Ichigo :D And NO they will NOT be a couple. It's mostly about them being friends. Oh and by the way, when Toushiro is by himself he's "Toushiro" and when he's with other people he's….. not Toushiro. Ahh well, you'll see what I mean. Well, please read and review pwease.  
****Disclaimer****: I do not own Bleach :(**

* * *

"Ichi-nii! You're late for school again!"

A 15 year old boy abruptly sat up in his bed at the sound of his younger sister's voice. Running a hand through his spiky orange hair, he lazily glanced at the alarm clock on his bed-side table. 7:45 am. His brown eyes widened. "Oh crap!"

"Ichi-nii!" His sister's girly voice called again.

"I'm coming, Yuzu!" Hurriedly, he jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom, brushing his teeth and splashing his face with water. He changed into his school uniform, which consisted of a white shirt, grey skinny pants and a blue-and-yellow-striped tie. On his way out of his room, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and ran a hand through his hair, in a desperate attempt to tame the unruly locks. In reality, it just made it worse.

Dashing down stairs, the boy dodged a good-morning-kick from his crazy-ass father. He grabbed a pancake and shoved it hungrily down his throat, not listening to the protests of his _other_ younger sister, Karin. He kicked his brown school shoes on and grabbed his book bag, hollering a quick "Bye!" to his family as he ran out of the house.

Yes, this was pretty much how every morning was for Kurosaki Ichigo.

* * *

Ichigo sighed in relief as he rushed through the door of his classroom. The teacher wasn't there yet, but then again, Kyouraku-sensei was always late. Walking to his seat, Ichigo noticed that people were unusually talkative that day. Not that they _weren't_ talkative normally… but they were _more _talkative than usual. He turned to his friend, Rukia Kuchiki, and raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Why's everyone so um… well… chatty?"

Rukia looked up from a picture she was doodling in her notebook. She tucked a loose strand of black hair behind her ear, only to have it fall back in between her large violet-coloured eyes. "That's what I'd like to know. Maybe Rangiku lost another bet?"

"Haven't you guys heard?" asked a soft voice. "We're having a new student."

Ichigo and Rukia turned to see a girl with dark brown hair in a bun, her large chocolate-brown eyes staring innocently at them. That was Hinamori Momo, one of Rukia's best friends.

"Yeah," said a girl with wavy strawberry-blonde hair and a super-model like figure. "If it's a guy I will totally make him give in to my awesome flirtiness!"

"Well…" said a tall boy with his red hair in a pony-tail. "It _could_ be a girl, you know." His name was Abarai Renji.

"Wanna bet on that, Rangiku?" asked Madarame Ikkaku, a bald guy (who _claims_ that he just _shaves_ all his hair off), with a wicked grin. "If it's a girl I win. If it's a boy you win. Fair and square."

"Why not?" asked Rangiku. "I'm going to win! After all, I'm the best betting-master in this whole town!" Everyone knew she wasn't really that arrogant, she was just…lively. "Prepare to give me 20 kan!"

"_Well_," said a boy called Ayasegawa Yumichika huffily. "Whoever the new kid is, I will still be way prettier." He flipped his shiny black hair. He was… a bit of a narcissist. "Yeah, you heard me Rangiku. I'm beautiful-er than you."

"Yumichika, that's not a word," Ichigo sighed. "All that matters is that we let him _or_ her feel welcome in this sorry excuse for school."

"Alright, alright," called a lazy voice. Everyone hurried to their seats as their teacher, Kyouraku Shunsui, walked into the class, in his signature pink floral robe and straw hat. "Settle down. We have a new student here." He looked towards the door, and gestured for the mystery student to come inside.

A small figure entered the room, a book bag slung over one shoulder. The student wore the Karakura High School's girl uniform, which was just the same as the boy's uniform, except it had a skirt instead (and the tie was a red bow tie). Her large, emerald-coloured eyes showed no emotion (and neither did the rest of her face) as she stared blankly at the class. The girl had short white hair that was slightly spiky, giving her a tomboyish appearance.

"Hah!" Ikkaku yelled triumphantly. "Rangiku, it's a girl. You owe me some moneeeey!"

A sulky moan was heard from Rangiku's desk. "…I'm broke."

Ikkaku smirked. "I see the betting-master's skills have been _mastered_ by no other than-"

"Well well Matsumoto-chan, Ikkaku-kun," Shunsui said cheerfully. "Leave your interesting bets for later. Now, introduce yourself to the class."

The white-haired girl's face did not change from its stoic expression. "I'm Hitsugaya Yuki, and that's all I'm going to tell you." She had a vaguely boyish voice, Ichigo noted.

"Very well… ehm….," Shunsui said, slightly taken back. "You can go sit next to… Ahh, Kurosaki-kun, would it bother you if Hitsugaya-chan sat at the seat next to yours?"

Ichigo noticed that Yuki got slightly annoyed at being addressed as 'Hitsugaya-_chan_'. He looked to the desk between the window and his own. It had been empty for a whole year. "Sure, why not?"

Yuki walked over to the empty desk and sat down, dropping her book bag at her feet.

Then, Shunsui's lazy attempt at teaching math began, and Ichigo's attention was easily drawn away by a frantically doodling Rukia. He leaned over. "Watcha drawing?"

Rukia held up her notebook, revealing a poorly drawn picture of a rabbit. "I drew the greatest bunny in the world, Chappy."

Her drawing skills sucked, and Ichigo knew that. But insult Chappy in _any _way in front of Rukia, and you'd wish you had never been born. Unfortunately, Ichigo had learned that the hard way. "Uhm.. ok."

"Oi Ichigo," Rukia said. "Ask the new kid to come have lunch with us."

Ichigo raised his eyebrows. "Why me?"

"Because you're sitting next to her." Rukia shrugged. "And you are a people-person. Also, I might accidentally start blabbing away _everything_ I know about Chappy to you." She looked at him seriously.

Not wanting to have a conversation about Chappy, Ichigo turned to Yuki, who was actually _doing_ her math sums. "What are you staring at?" She asked, without lifting her gaze from the book.

Ichigo was slightly startled by her cold tone. "Nothing. I just wanted to say… Welcome to Karakura High. I'm Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Right," She still refused to meet his gaze. "Leave me alone then, Kurosaki."

_Well that's rude_, Ichigo thought, slightly annoyed with the girl's rough tone. "Let's try that again shall we?"

She didn't answer and kept working.

_Maybe she's not in a good mood?_ Ichigo sighed. "My friends and I want to invite you over to have lunch with us."

Yuki finally looked up, and glared at him with piercing emerald eyes. "No thanks."

Ichigo, however, was not one to give up that easily. "Please? We could show you around."

Yuki shook her head. "I said no." She answered firmly.

"C'mon." Ichigo pestered. "It won't be so bad."

Her glare intensified. "What part of 'No thanks' did you not understand?"

"The part where you didn't say 'yes'. Oh, come on," He sighed. "It's hard being the new kid. You need someone to show you around… and be your friends. Or else you'll end up being a loner."

Ichigo thought that he saw Yuki's eyes soften ever so slightly. "If I say yes, will you leave me alone for the rest of this class?"

"Yes." Ichigo said, grinning.

"Fine," the girl went back to her work. "I'll see you at lunch then."

Ichigo laughed and turned around to Rukia, giving her a thumbs-up.

* * *

Sitting in the high branches of a tree, a white-haired teenager sighed in frustration. It was all so _stupid_. Here he was, in Karakura High, in a _girl's_ uniform. Everyone knew him as Hitsugaya_ Yuki_. Not Toushiro. Everyone believed that he was a girl. Not the boy he'd always been, and always wanted to be. But you couldn't always get what you wanted. It was all because of his stupid parents. If they weren't so driven mad by _that_ incident, he'd be known as Hitsugaya Toushiro. He would be… himself… Oh who cares? They weren't even his real parents, anyway.

"Oi, Yuki."

_Yuki's_ attention whipped to a familiar voice coming from below. She looked down and saw that orange haired boy from her class - Ichigo, was it? – waving at her with a smile. What a pain.

"What are you doing up there?" Ichigo asked curiously.

Yuki raised an eyebrow at him. "Sitting on a branch."

"I know that," Ichigo laughed. I just came looking for you because I remember you were supposed to have lunch with us." He looked up at the branch Yuki was on. "Jump. I won't let you fall." He opened up his arms as if to emphasize the point.

Yuki rolled her eyes. "I can get myself down, I'm not a wimp." Then, she leaped off the branch and gracefully landed on her feet. "Where do you guys eat lunch?"

"Uh…on the roof." Ichigo said. He pointed the way. As 'Yuki' walked ahead, Ichigo stared at her with utter confusion. Almost every girl in the school would blush if he'd offered to catch them or help them in any way (even Rukia did once, and it seemed as though she couldn't stand him), since he _was_ pretty popular among girls. Not that he cared whether or not they blushed; all he wanted to do was help people. He observed Yuki as they walked up the stairs together. She seemed… different compared to other girls. But then, she _could_ just be one of those _extreme _tomboys, who acted very much like an actual boy. Yuki sure looked like a normal girl, though.

* * *

"Alright Yuki-" Ichigo began, as everyone sat down at their usual spot for lunch

"It's Hitsugaya." _Yuki_ interrupted Ichigo. "Don't address me with so much familiarity…"

Ichigo ignored her. "Let me introduce you to my friends."

"Fine, go ahead." Yuki said in a bored tone.

"Well, you know I'm Kurosaki Ichigo," Ichigo started. He pointed to Rukia. "That's Kuchiki Rukia. The red-haired guy next to her is Abarai Renji."

Rukia smiled welcomingly at Yuki, and Renji gave a small wave. Yuki did not respond in any way.

"The bald one is Madarame Ikkaku-" Ichigo continued.

Ikkaku frowned. "I'm not bald! I simply shave my head! How many times do I have to say it you friggin' unmanly piece of-"

Ichigo cleared his throat loudly right at the moment when Ikkaku swore. "The guy with the shiny hair and the feathers on his eyelashes is Ayasegawa Yumichika. Don't pay any attention to him if he starts going on about his own beauty whatever blah blah blah. The girl with the auburn hair is Inoue Orihime, the one with the glasses is Uryu Ishida, and the really tall one is Yasutora Sado, but we call him Chad 'cux it's cooler."

Orhime's gray eyes twinkled as she waved happily at her new 'friend', Ishida merely nodded in acknowledgement, and Chad mumbled a quiet "Hello." Yumichika just huffed and flipped his hair. Once again, there was no response from Yuki.

Ichigo sighed. "Oh and the brown haired one is Hinamori Momo."

Momo smiled sweetly at Yuki, to which Yuki returned a shy smile with a slight blush. This did _not_ go unnoticed by Ichigo. He noticed someone was missing. "Areh? Where's Rangiku-san?"

"Did someone say my name?~" And like magic, the strawberry-blonde girl appeared. Her crystal blue eyes lit up when she saw the new student. "Hi!~ I'm Matsumoto Rangiku. Yuki-chan, you're so cute!" Rangiku patted Yuki's head.

Yuki swatted away her hand, clearly irritated. "It's Hitsugaya. And I'm not cute." She grumbled.

"Ahh… well, it's gonna be tough to be friends if you're so grouchy!" Rangiku said.

"Well, I guess we're fine then." Yuki said dryly.

Ichigo sighed and gestured to everyone around him. "We're all connected through friendship and we each have a different personality that completes the group."

"What?" Yuki asked, her face showing absolutely nothing but confusion.

Ichigo smiled. "Well, Ikkaku is the violent one. Orihime is the clueless, nice one. Rukia is the slightly forceful, bunny-obsessed one. Uryu is the quiet, smart one who _tries_ a bit too hard to act cool."

Uryu glared at Ichigo. And then went back to reading a book in his hands.

Ichigo shrugged it off as normal behaviour. "Rangiku-san is the talkative, pretty one. No offence to the other girls, you guys are all pretty as well. Momo is the shy, kind one. Chad is the silent, strong one. Renji is the funny one."

"Yeah," said the red-haired boy. "And we could really use an egotistical princess."

Ichigo shook his head. "That's Yumichika."

Yumichika just fluttered his feathery eyelashes. "Yes. I _am_ beautiful."

Yuki looked at Ichigo. "… What are you, then?" she asked curiously.

Momo giggled, catching Yuki's attention. "Ichigo-kun is the friendly, warm, leader."

Ichigo grinned. "See what I meant about Momo being kind?"

Yuki rolled her eyes. "That was all kinds of cheesy. And what does that have to do with me anyway?"

Rangiku jumped in. "The point is, if you're friends with people like us, ehem ehem _ME_, you'll have tons of fun!"

"I'll have fun doing what?" Yuki asked sarcastically.

Rangiku's eyes shone brightly as she counted off many things to do. "….. and then, we can have girl's nights with Rukia and Momo and Orihime, and we'll go bra-shopping together, we can have tons of sleepovers where we'll paint our nails, do make-up on each other, have mock fashion shows, and watch chick flicks."

Ichigo noticed that Yuki's face was getting paler and paler with every word said, particularly at 'bra-shopping'. But apparently, Rangiku didn't observe anything, and just continued to chatter on about all the entertaining stuff she could do with Yuki. "… And after you get to know everyone, we'll talk about cute guys and who I could hook you up with and-"

Finally, the snowy-haired girl spoke up. "A-ano Matsumoto, I'm not really into the stuff you do…"

The strawberry-blonde looked at her in surprise. "Really? What kind of stuff do you do then?"

Yuki shifted in her spot. "Er… I like playing soccer?"

Rangiku looked at her in horror, while most of the boys seemed to find her interesting.

Ichigo grinned at Yuki. "We have a soccer team here."

Yuki's eyes shone at the news.

Ichigo's grin changed to a pitiful smile. "Um, sorry, it's an all boys team though."

Yuki looked a bit saddened. "… Oh. A _boys_ team."

"But they do have a girl's volleyball team, and a basketball team." Ichigo said, noticing Yuki's expression. "Do you like either of those sports?"

"They're okay… I guess," Yuki said. "But I don't really want to join a team for either of them."

Rangiku jumped into the conversation. "What else do you like doing?"

Yuki bit her bottom lip slightly as she thought. "I guess… I like skateboarding. It's fun. And that way, I don't have to walk to school."

Rangiku looked at her, confused.

Yuki sighed at the other girl's denseness. "I can just ride my skateboard to school."

"Ohh!" Rangiku's eyes widened as she understood. Then her beautiful eyes peered at Yuki in curiosity. "But don't you get all sweaty and stuff doing all that?"

Yuki shrugged like it was no big deal, leaving the taller girl completely stunned. The tiny girl suddenly stood up. "Well, I'll be going now," she said and walked away.

Ichigo stared. "Does anyone else… um…I dunno….. find Yuki kind of….odd?"

Renji slapped him on the back. "Nah, she's awesome! I might even ask her out."

"Good luck getting _her_ to say yes," snorted Rukia. "It was hard enough getting her to have lunch with us."

Ichigo glared at Rukia in disbelief. "_You_ did nothing to get her to come."

* * *

Walking home after a tiring day of school was an easy task for nobody. Especially not for Ichigo. He groaned as he sluggishly dragged his feet. _Yuki's skateboard would sure come in handy right now_, he thought.

As if on cue, Ichigo saw a blur of white go past him on a skateboard. On instinct, he immediately called out "Yuki!"

The figure suddenly stopped, and turned around. Her large bluish-green eyes looked back for whoever had called her. Ichigo slightly ran and caught up to her. Yuki frowned. "Oh. It's just you."

"Well hello to you too," Ichigo said with false cheerfulness. "You're new in town aren't you?"

"What's it to you?" The girl questioned grumpily.

Ichigo sighed. "I could show you around," he offered.

Yuki said nothing, picked up her skateboard and began walking. Ichigo strolled alongside her. He realised that he'd reached his house.

"Well, bye." He sighed. Yuki raised an eyebrow in confusion. Ichigo smiled and pointed at his home. "I live here."

"Oh. Bye." She said, turning around. As Ichigo was unlocking the front door, Yuki turned back around. "Alright, Kurosaki. I'll let you show me around."

Ichigo grinned. "How 'bout tomorrow at 10? It's Saturday, so we have no school."

"Fine," said Yuki. "But it's _not_ a date."

"Don't worry," Ichigo laughed and faced her. "I'm not into you that way. Uh… I'll pick you up. Where do you live?"

Yuki looked at him uneasily. "There." She pointed to a two-story house on the block in front of Ichigo's. She gave him a forced smile. "I guess we're kinda neighbours. Well, see you later."

"Yeah….Later." Ichigo mumbled as the girl whizzed off on her skateboard towards her house. He couldn't help but feel that there was something weird about her. Something wasn't right… And _he_ was going to find out.

* * *

**A/N****= Well, so that was the first chapter xD I still haven't made up an excuse as to why Toushiro is hiding his true gender :P Pleease pleease pleeease could you give me some suggestions for the excuse? Please? *puppy dog eyes* Cux u know if I don't have an excuse, then I can't write the next chapter…. Unless, I ****_shouldn't_**** continue this fic? Tell me what you thought.**


	2. The Haunting Past

**A/N****= Hello it's me again! I'm really sorry for the late update, I am really really sorry, I swear. My new school year (I'm a ninth grader now :D) started out pretty badly, I had my end-of-term exams these last few weeks and I had this massive 'design-a-mansion-on-Google-Sketchup' project and…. You probably don't care ^.^"**

**Thank you to **Guest, A Silent Cat1, Ruby-charm, Countdown, The Awesome God Apollo, toshiluver123, Jey and AFlashOfSilver **for reviewing on chapter 1! I love you guys :3**

**Also, thanks for all the follows and favourites :)**

**Also (since I cannot reply in a PM), in reply to:**

**Guest:** Thank you so much! I'm very happy with my idea for this one :)

**Countdown:** Oh my god, I started writing this story with the exact same idea in my head! xD Well, great minds think alike :P (not that mine is very great though…) So...yeah, thanks for the idea :) Or for…proving to me that the idea is good xD

**Alright, alright, I'll shut up now.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, or its characters.**

* * *

_Previously..._

_"We're having a new student."_

_"I'm Hitsugaya Yuki, and that's all I'm going to tell you."_

_"My friends and I want to invite you over to have lunch with us."_

_If they weren't so driven mad by _that_ incident, he'd be known as Hitsugaya Toushiro._

_She seemed… different compared to other girls._

_"I guess we're kinda neighbours."_

_Something wasn't right… And _he _was going to find out._

* * *

Once again, Toushiro found himself sitting straight up in bed, staring out of his window, at the beautiful crescent moon. He couldn't sleep, and he didn't want to anyway. All his dreams were nightmares, his unforgettable past incessantly haunting his mind.

He hated his life so much. But there was nothing he could do to change it. He had made a promise.

* * *

_-Flashback-_

_A ten-year old Toushiro stared at the white-haired lady that lay almost lifelessly on the hospital bed. Her right hand was clasped tightly in his smaller ones, like he was afraid that he would lose her._

_The lady's slender hand reached up and gently cupped his cheek. Then, in a soft voice, she spoke. "Toushiro?"_

_"Y-yes?" Toushiro replied, trying his best not to cry. "W-what is it?"_

_"The doctor said that my condition is very bad. I don't think I'm going to make it."_

_"N-no! You can't die too! I-I w-won't let you!" Toushiro spoke in a quivering voice._

_The lady let out a soft, strained laugh, and continued speaking. "I'm afraid that's not possible, snowball."_

_Toushiro didn't want to believe that. He held back his tears._

_"Listen to me carefully," the woman said in a hoarse whisper. "When I'm gone, there will be no one to look after you. So, you will probably get adopted."_

_Toushiro stared at her. "And before I get adopted?"_

_She smiled at the child. "I asked for you to be put in an orphanage, since we have no living relatives. Don't worry, it's a nice orphanage. Not like the horrible ones they always show in movies. Toushiro, you beautiful child, promise me one last thing."_

_"A-anything," Toushiro said, clutching her pale hand tighter._

_"Please be good to them, whoever decides to take you in. Do whatever they say, okay? If they want you to do something, do not argue. Be a good boy."_

_Toushiro bit his lip and nodded, gazing into her emerald green eyes that were so much like his own._

_"Good bye…" The lady said with a smile, though Toushiro could see the sparkle in her eyes slowly fading._

_ Her light whisper echoed in his ears, as her stunning emerald eyes were covered by pale eyelids and her breathing ceased. Toushiro could no longer feel her pulse in her wrist._

_He had lost her. Right there, right then._

_He did the first thing that came to mind. He cried. He let those hot tears flow down his cheeks, as he saw every memory of her flash past his mind. Happy, pleasant and amusing memories. They all just made him feel something else._

_He felt sorrow that the most important person in his life had just been lost._

_He felt sad that he had no one to comfort him about it, now that she was gone._

_He felt mad at himself for crying over her death, because she would've wanted him to celebrate her life instead._

_"Okaa-san…. Why…?"_

_-End of flashback-_

* * *

Since that day, he vowed to himself that he would never break that promise. His father had died in the horrible car crash, and his mother had seemed to be slightly luckier, only to pass away later because of her severe injuries.

It seemed near impossible to Toushiro that he, a ten year old at that time, had survived the whole car crash with just a mere scar along the side of his left leg as a reminder of that incident. And he thought that he was unlucky then.

He hadn't met his foster parents at that time. As sickeningly kind as they were, he thought they were two huge nutcases. Well, his 'mom' was, at least. But Toushiro couldn't really blame either of them. After all, their minds were still being haunted by the death of their daughter, Ikeda Katsu.

* * *

_3 years ago…_

Ikeda Katsu pulled her red hair into two pig-tails, grabbing the flashlight on her desk and hiding it in the pocket of her hoodie as she walked out of her room.

She glanced at the clock. _Only 8:15, I still have 15 more minutes._

"Okaa-san, Otou-san, I'm going out," she announced.

"Where are you going?" asked her father, Tadashi.

"To a party," said Katsu confidently.

Her mother, Natsumi, raised an eyebrow. "Wearing that?"

_Of course she was going to ask me that_, Katsu thought. "Yeah. It's not a formal party. Just one of those cool ones where you hang out and do fun stuff."

"This late at night?" Tadashi questioned.

Katsu held back the urge to frown. One wrong move and she would not be able to leave the house. So instead, she put on an innocent mask. "It's not that late, Otou-san. I'll be back by curfew."

Tadashi looked at his wife and sighed. "Alright…"

As Katsu grinned and swiftly walked outside, she waited for the clicking of the door that would tell her that the door was fully closed. Upon hearing the sound, she turned to her right and sprinted as fast as she could.

Out of breath and slightly sweaty, Katsu stopped in front of a large, old house. It looked like it had once been a grand and marvellous place, far from the lifeless, filthy looking house that was in its position.

"Took you long enough," said a familiar voice.

Katsu turned to see her best-friends, Mai and Tora. Mai had bright blue eyes and long silky black hair that went down to her waist. Tora had brown eyes and blonde hair that was held up in a short, spiky pony-tail. Like Katsu, both of them were in warm clothes and had a flashlight.

"Sorry," Katsu apologised. She turned to the old house. "Ready?"

Her friends nodded and they pushed past the rusted metal gates, and walked bravely towards the front door. Mai gulped, and twisted a strand of her hair. "W-who's going in first?"

Tora rolled her eyes, and put her hand on the antique-looking door handle. "You guys are such scaredy cats." She pushed the door, which opened with a loud creak. "There. Was it really that hard?"

The girls walked into the house, an old, mouldy scent filling their nostrils. Nevertheless, they turned on their flashlights and walked further into the house, the old wooden flooring squeaking with each step taken. They could see that some parts of the house were under reconstruction. Katsu stopped dead in her tracks. When she'd agreed to do this, there was one very important detail she had forgotten to obtain. "Tora, what are we looking for, exactly?"

Tora shrugged sheepishly, though the dim lights made even these small movements seem eerie. "Er… you see… It's my turn to look after Albert Columbus, and I brought him along when I tried to check if this place was really haunted and well… he sort of…"

Mai sighed softly. "You lost him, didn't you?"

Tora shrugged again, and Katsu sighed with frustration. "That thing could be anywhere!"

Albert Columbus, a trained charming little gray squirrel, was the class pet. Every week, someone new took him home and took care of him, to learn about the importance of responsibility. And apparently, Tora had not been very responsible. "If I go back to school with no Albert Columbus, I'll be in a lot of trouble!" she said.

Katsu shook her head and pointed in front of her. "I'll go this way. Tora, you search the left side of the room. Mai, you're on the right. My parents think I'm at a party so let's make this quick."

Walking in different directions with their flashlights lighting the path in front of them, the middle-schoolers attempted to find the furry creature. Katsu looked under antique chairs and tables. Tora checked the shelves and behind the thick, dusty velvet curtains. Mai managed to check under the expensive rugs. After checking the second and third storeys, the girls were feeling fed up and exhausted "Alright, only one more floor left. Let's go," suggested Tora.

Mai gave a shaky nod and they headed upstairs, splitting into three directions once again. Just as Katsu opened a wardrobe that sent a large 'poof!' of dust onto her, she heard Mai's voice.

"G-guys! I-I found A-albert C-columb-bus!"

Following the sound of her friend's voice, she found herself on a balcony. There was a long wooden plank, one side resting on the edge of the balcony, and the other side resting on a tree that was dangerously far away. Albert Columbus was sitting on the plank, right in the middle.

"A-albert-san?" Mai called out softly, her arms beckoning the animal to come closer to them.

The squirrel did not move, but just stared at them with large, unsure eyes.

"U-um, do you guys know how high we are?" Tora asked in an unusually frightened voice. Though she was intrepid most of the time, she did have a fear of heights. She shone her flashlight onto the ground below the balcony, which appeared to be a long way down. Panic found its way into her senses, and her flashlight slipped out of her hand. A loud clank was heard as it hit the ground, followed by a startled squeak. The girls looked back at the plank, only to find that Albert Columbus had scurried further away.

Katsu grunted in frustration. She walked toward the edge of the balcony, which came up to her waist. The plank looked easy to climb onto.

"K-katsu-san?" Mai asked cautiously. "What are you doing?"

"Getting this squirrel back," Katsu said, carefully hauling herself onto the plank.

"Katsu! Baka, that's dangerous!" Tora exclaimed. "Even I wouldn't do that! If you fall, you could die!"

But Katsu was a very stubborn girl. "Tora, do you want to get grounded for a month _again_?"

"Well, no… but-"

"Then, I'm going to get Albert Columbus back. No buts," Katsu said, standing up of the plank, which wasn't very wide.

Spreading her arms out for balance, she began to tip-toe carefully, as if she were an acrobat walking on a tight-rope. That was something she had always wanted to do, but strangely, what she was doing now didn't feel as great as she had though it would.

Slowly, steadily, Katsu inched closer to the little squirrel. When she was about half a meter away from the animal, she bent down to pick him up.

She would've succeeded, but Albert Columbus scurried up her arm, causing her to lose balance, tilting sideways.

"Katsu!" "Katsu-san!"

Tora and Mai both screamed in alarm, as Katsu managed to hold on to the plank with her left hand. But this didn't seem to work that well, as she felt her hand start to slip.

"J-just hold on, Katsu! I'll call for help!" Tora yelled, frantically searching her pockets for her phone.

'_If you fall, you could die!'_

Tora's words replayed in Katsu's mind.

She felt her hand slip just a bit more, and she unsuccessfully tried to dig her nails into the wood. Her hand slipped right off, and time seemed to slow down as Katsu fell through the air, her friends' terrified yells sounded faded to her ears.

_Of course it slipped_, she thought, bitterly laughing in her mind. _I was never really that strong._

Her falling speed kept increasing rapidly, until her head painfully crashed into the ground. The cold, hard, concrete ground.

The sharp pain in her head spread along the rest of her body life fire, and things seemed to black out. Her senses were numbing fast, and as her eyes slowly closed, Katsu found herself thinking of two people.

_I wish I could've said good-bye. Okaa-san, Otou-san, I'm so sorry I lied to you…_

* * *

According to what Toushiro had been told, the 14-year-old's death had affected the once-happy couple greatly. And of course, being the soft-hearted people they were, Natsumi and Tadashi blamed themselves for it.

After three years of contemplation, they decided that they would adopt a new child.

Toushiro clearly remembered the day. He became so happy that he could finally have a family again, only to be asked later if he'd 'be' a girl. He realised that Natsumi and Tadashi were only using him as a replacement for their daughter, and felt heart-broken and used.

But he remembered that one promise he made to his mother on her death-bed.

He'd grudgingly agreed to go with the arrangement. He'd moved with his new parents to Karakura, and started his new life as 'Hitsugaya Yuki'. And then, he'd started school as a prodigy (but he hadn't let anyone in school know that yet).

But he felt that this was all wrong. He wasn't Yuki, he was _Toushiro_. He wasn't a 15 year old female; he was still a 13 year old boy. And he most certainly did not like his life right now, but he did his best to hide that.

Now, staring out of the window, he wondered how long he could keep this act up. What would other people say if his secret was exposed? Would he be treated differently? Would he be an outcast?

Toushiro wondered how things would be if his parents were still alive. Oh, how he wished it would happen. How he yearned to hear his mother's kind voice again. But he knew it wasn't possible. No, not anymore.

Feeling something warm drip onto his arm, he reached up to wipe away the tears that he knew he couldn't hold back. His mother had always told him, 'if you are a good person, then good things will happen to you'.

Was that really true?

Was he a bad person?

No. He knew that deep down he really was a good person.

His eyes stared at the moon again, tears dripping down his cheeks.

_If good things are supposed to happen to good people… why is my life so messed up?_

* * *

**A/N****= Okay, so that was a bit more depressing than I was actually going for… but I decided that I should really give you guys another chapter xD And, sorry if the bit about Katsu's death was long and boring. I don't think she'll be making any future appearances in the story though :P So, how did you like it? Leave a review :3**

**I'll try to update as soon as I can :)**


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